Re: Tequila Forum

What are your thoughts about Ralfy's score of 84/100 on Jose Cuervo Especial? I cannot beleive it. A man with incredible taste in liquor providing a score that high on a tequila that is perhaps the most disgusting ever produced.

Although, in his review he did provide some insight to the licking of salt and sucking on the lime. He said it was a trick to disguise the awful flavor of bad tequila.

Re: Tequila Forum

I'm pretty new here, but anyone who is giving JC Especial that kind of score has no taste for tequila. It's a bottom 10 juice that I've ever had and I've probably sampled somewhere in the realm of 180-200 tequilas.

Re: Tequila Forum

Originally Posted by Bmac

What are your thoughts about Ralfy's score of 84/100 on Jose Cuervo Especial? I cannot beleive it. A man with incredible taste in liquor providing a score that high on a tequila that is perhaps the most disgusting ever produced.

Originally Posted by Max Power

I'm pretty new here, but anyone who is giving JC Especial that kind of score has no taste for tequila. It's a bottom 10 juice that I've ever had and I've probably sampled somewhere in the realm of 180-200 tequilas.

Maybe his "incredible taste in liquor" doesn't encompass all
liquors and he's basing his rating on the Tequila available to
him or comparing it to the ones he has tried (which would
be even worse than the JCE by your standards?...)

And as far as "no taste for tequila" - how bout you find me
a Tequila reviewer and have him sample some Scotch or
Bourbon. Wanna bet you find those ratings a bit skewed
compared to how Whisk(e)y reviewers might score them?...

Re: Tequila Forum

Originally Posted by silverfish

And as far as "no taste for tequila" - how bout you find me
a Tequila reviewer and have him sample some Scotch or
Bourbon. Wanna bet you find those ratings a bit skewed
compared to how Whisk(e)y reviewers might score them?...

It's a fair point. I'm a tequila drinker first and foremost. I've tasted plenty of scotch and bourbon, but am more new to bourbon out of all of them. Obviously everyone's own palate is going to dictate their own preferences. If he happens to prefer a tequila that is a pleasant mix of rubbing alcohol and sugar...that's his prerogative. Agave spirits tend more towards peppery in the unaged and have a wide range in the aged category.

If I gave you guys a bourbon that tastes like Vodka and maple syrup put together, I'm pretty sure there would be a consensus on this board that it sucked...even if there was a couple people out there who liked it.

Re: Tequila Forum

Originally Posted by silverfish

And as far as "no taste for tequila" - how bout you find me
a Tequila reviewer and have him sample some Scotch or
Bourbon. Wanna bet you find those ratings a bit skewed
compared to how Whisk(e)y reviewers might score them?...

I was a tequila drinker long before bourbon. I have tasted my fair share of high end and low end enough to know what I like in a tequila. I prefer smooth and slightly sweet with some of the actual natural agave flavor coming through. When tequila is in wood too long it gets overly woody and bitter. That might be someone's cup of tea....but...JCE is...well....it's piss. I am shocked they can call it tequila. it's yellow colored alcohol. They say the non-100% agave tequilas are typically mixed with sugar cane distillate (rum). I love rum and have a vast collection...and JCE has ZERO rum flavor profile.

My wife, who hates alcohol in almost ALL forms, was able to tell the difference between JCE and 100% agave.

Re: Tequila Forum

Originally Posted by Bmac

I was a tequila drinker long before bourbon. I have tasted my fair share of high end and low end enough to know what I like in a tequila. I prefer smooth and slightly sweet with some of the actual natural agave flavor coming through. When tequila is in wood too long it gets overly woody and bitter. That might be someone's cup of tea....but...JCE is...well....it's piss. I am shocked they can call it tequila. it's yellow colored alcohol. They say the non-100% agave tequilas are typically mixed with sugar cane distillate (rum). I love rum and have a vast collection...and JCE has ZERO rum flavor profile.

My wife, who hates alcohol in almost ALL forms, was able to tell the difference between JCE and 100% agave.

It is shocking that it gets called "tequila." That's why the label of 100% agave is so important. Can you imagine someone mixing 51% bourbon and 49% rum and then adding color and trying to pass it off as bourbon? It's pretty much the same thing except for some reason people drink the piss water.

Re: Tequila Forum

Originally Posted by Max Power

It is shocking that it gets called "tequila." That's why the label of 100% agave is so important. Can you imagine someone mixing 51% bourbon and 49% rum and then adding color and trying to pass it off as bourbon? It's pretty much the same thing except for some reason people drink the piss water.

Are you saying it can't be called "Tequila"? Is there a Reg issue that is in question?

Re: Tequila Forum

Are you saying it can't be called "Tequila"? Is there a Reg issue that is in question?

Sort of. Tequila can't be called "tequila" unless "IT" is made in the region of Tequila, Mexico. There is no regulation that the spirit made has to be 100% agave. For our edification:

4.34 Tequila
The regional alcoholic beverage obtained by distilling musts, prepared directly and originally from extracted material, in the manufacturing facilities of an Authorized Producer, which must be located in the territory specified in the Declaration, derived from the hearts of tequilana weber blue variety Agave, previously or subsequently hydrolyzed or cooked, and subjected to alcoholic fermentation with cultivated or uncultivated yeasts, wherein said musts may be enhanced and blended together before fermentation with other sugars up to a proportion no greater than 49% of total reducing sugars expressed in units of mass, pursuant to this Official Mexican Standard, and with the understanding that cold mixing is not permitted. Tequila is a liquid that, according to its type, is colorless or colored when aged in oak or Encino oak (holm or holm oak) wood containers, or when mellowed without aging.
Tequila may be enhanced by the addition of sweeteners, coloring, aromatizers and/or flavorings permitted by the Ministry of Health in order to provide or intensify its color, aroma and/or flavor.
Reference to the term “Tequila” in this NOM is understood to apply to the two categories indicated in Chapter 5, except for express references to “100% agave” Tequila.

5.1.2 “Tequila”
The product defined in paragraph one of Section 4.34 of this NOM whose musts may be enhanced and blended together prior to fermentation with other sugars in a proportion not to exceed 49% of total reducing sugars expressed in units of mass. This maximum enhancement of up to 49% of total reducing sugars expressed in units of mass may not be done with sugars from any species of Agave. The 51% of total reducing sugars expressed in units of mass may only be enhanced with tequilana weber blue variety Agave grown in the territory specified in the Declaration.
This product may be bottled in plants not belonging to an authorized producer under strict compliance by the bottler of the conditions set forth in Section 6.5.4.2 and other applicable provisions of this NOM.

Re: Tequila Forum

Sort of. Tequila can't be called "tequila" unless "IT" is made in the region of Tequila, Mexico. There is no regulation that the spirit made has to be 100% agave. For our edification:

4.34 Tequila
The regional alcoholic beverage obtained by distilling musts, prepared directly and originally from extracted material, in the manufacturing facilities of an Authorized Producer, which must be located in the territory specified in the Declaration, derived from the hearts of tequilana weber blue variety Agave, previously or subsequently hydrolyzed or cooked, and subjected to alcoholic fermentation with cultivated or uncultivated yeasts, wherein said musts may be enhanced and blended together before fermentation with other sugars up to a proportion no greater than 49% of total reducing sugars expressed in units of mass, pursuant to this Official Mexican Standard, and with the understanding that cold mixing is not permitted. Tequila is a liquid that, according to its type, is colorless or colored when aged in oak or Encino oak (holm or holm oak) wood containers, or when mellowed without aging.
Tequila may be enhanced by the addition of sweeteners, coloring, aromatizers and/or flavorings permitted by the Ministry of Health in order to provide or intensify its color, aroma and/or flavor.
Reference to the term “Tequila” in this NOM is understood to apply to the two categories indicated in Chapter 5, except for express references to “100% agave” Tequila.

5.1.2 “Tequila”
The product defined in paragraph one of Section 4.34 of this NOM whose musts may be enhanced and blended together prior to fermentation with other sugars in a proportion not to exceed 49% of total reducing sugars expressed in units of mass. This maximum enhancement of up to 49% of total reducing sugars expressed in units of mass may not be done with sugars from any species of Agave. The 51% of total reducing sugars expressed in units of mass may only be enhanced with tequilana weber blue variety Agave grown in the territory specified in the Declaration.
This product may be bottled in plants not belonging to an authorized producer under strict compliance by the bottler of the conditions set forth in Section 6.5.4.2 and other applicable provisions of this NOM.

Re: Tequila Forum

Originally Posted by smokinjoe

Are you saying it can't be called "Tequila"? Is there a Reg issue that is in question?

No. Like the other poster posted, if it's 51% tequila, it can still be called tequila. So long as it is in Jalisco (for the most part, I think there are a few exceptions) and has a NOM and is approved by the Mexican government, it can be called tequila. 51% is the minimum amount that it can be and still called tequila.

But like I said, it's the same as making a spirit 51% bourbon and 49% filler and calling it bourbon just because the government says it's OK.